Judas Maccabeus in the context of "2 Maccabees"

The Hasmonean dynasty (/hæzməˈniːən/; Hebrew: חַשְׁמוֹנָאִים Ḥašmōnāʾīm; Greek: Ασμοναϊκή δυναστεία) was the Jewish ruling dynasty of Judea during the Hellenistic times of the Second Temple period (part of classical antiquity), from c. 141 BC to 37 BC. Between c. 141 and c. 116 BC the dynasty ruled Judea semi-autonomously within the Seleucid Empire, and from roughly 110 BC, with the empire disintegrating, gained further autonomy and expanded into the neighboring regions of Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea. The Hasmonean rulers took the Greek title basileus ("king") and the kingdom attained regional power status for several decades. Forces of the Roman Republic intervened in the Hasmonean Civil War in 63 BC, turning the kingdom into a client state and marking an irreversible decline of Hasmonean power; Herod the Great displaced the last reigning Hasmonean client-ruler in 37 BC.

Simon Thassi established the dynasty in 141 BC, two decades after his brother Judah Maccabee (יהודה המכבי Yehudah HaMakabi) had defeated the Seleucid army during the Maccabean Revolt of 167 to 160 BC. According to 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, and the first book of The Jewish War by historian Josephus (37 – c. 100 AD), the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r. 175–164) moved to assert strict control over the Seleucid satrapy of Coele Syria and Phoenicia after his successful invasion of Ptolemaic Egypt (170–168 BC) was turned back by the intervention of the Roman Republic. He sacked Jerusalem and its Temple, suppressing Jewish and Samaritan religious and cultural observances,and imposed Hellenistic practices (c. 168–167 BC). The steady collapse of the Seleucid Empire under attacks from the rising powers of the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire allowed Judea to regain some autonomy; however, in 63 BC, the kingdom was invaded by the Roman Republic, broken up and set up as a Roman client state.

Hasmonean Judea, also known in part of its history as the Hasmonean kingdom, was an independent Jewish state in Judea and its surrounding regions, during the Hellenistic era of the Second Temple period. The Hasmonean state emerged from the Maccabean revolt against Seleucid rule. It was ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty, who descended from the Maccabees, and combined the offices of high priest and ethnarch, later assuming the title of kings. Initially, Judea remained semi-autonomous under the Seleucid Empire, but as Seleucid authority declined, the Hasmoneans gained full independence and expanded their territory into neighboring regions, including Perea, Samaria, Idumea, Galilee, and Iturea.

The Maccabees launched their revolt against the Seleucids in the 160s BCE, with Judas Maccabeus's victories and the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple following its desecration by the Seleucids. After Judas's death in battle, his brother Jonathan revived the movement, secured Seleucid recognition, and was appointed High Priest. Following Jonathan's execution, their brother Simon took command, expelled the Seleucid garrison from Jerusalem, and achieved independence, marking the foundation of the Hasmonean state. Simon was later assassinated by his son-in-law.

The Nine Worthies are nine historical, scriptural, and legendary men of distinction who personify the ideals of chivalry established in the Middle Ages, whose lives were deemed a valuable study for aspirants to chivalric status. All were commonly referred to as 'Princes', regardless of their historical titles. In French they are called Les Neuf Preux or "Nine Valiants", giving a more specific idea of the moral virtues they exemplified: those of soldierly courage and generalship. In Italy they are known as i Nove Prodi.

The Nine Worthies include three pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar), three Jews (Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabeus), and three Christians (King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon).

There is no scholarly consensus as to when the canon of the Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) was fixed. Rabbinic Judaism recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text—five books of the Torah, eight books of the Nevi'im (Prophets), and eleven books of the Ketuvim (Writings)—as the authoritative version of the Tanakh. Of these books, the Book of Daniel of the Ketuvim has the most recent final date of composition (chapters 10–12 were written sometime between 168 and 164 BCE). The canon was therefore fixed at some time after this date. Some scholars argue that it was fixed during the Hasmonean dynasty (140–40 BCE), while others argue it was not fixed until the second century CE or even later.

The book of 2 Maccabees, itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah (around 400 BCE) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings". The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to the Second Temple of Jerusalem around the same time period. Both 1 and 2 Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus (around 167 BCE) also collected sacred books.

The Maccabean Revolt (Hebrew: מֶרֶד הַמַּכַּבִּים) or the Hasmonean revolt (מֶרֶד הַחַשְׁמוֹנָאִים) was a Jewish rebellion led by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire and against Hellenistic influence on Jewish life. The main phase of the revolt lasted from 167 to 160 BCE and ended with the Seleucids in control of Judea, but conflict between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews, and the Seleucids continued until 134 BCE, with the Maccabees eventually attaining independence.

Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a massive campaign of repression against the Jewish religion in 168 BCE. The reason he did so is not entirely clear, but it seems to have been related to the King mistaking an internal conflict among the Jewish priesthood as a full-scale rebellion. Jewish practices were banned, Jerusalem was placed under direct Seleucid control, and the Second Temple in Jerusalem was made the site of a syncretic Pagan-Jewish cult. This repression triggered the revolt that Antiochus IV had feared, with a group of Jewish fighters led by Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) and his family rebelling in 167 BCE and seeking independence. The rebels as a whole would come to be known as the Maccabees, and their actions would be chronicled later in the books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees.

A war hammer (French: martel-de-fer, "iron hammer") is a weapon that was used by both foot soldiers and cavalry. It is a very old weapon and gave its name, owing to its constant use, to Judah Maccabee, a 2nd-century BC Jewish rebel, and to Charles Martel, one of the rulers of France. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the war hammer became an elaborately decorated and handsome weapon.

The war hammer was a popular weapon in the late medieval period. It became somewhat of a necessity in combat when armor became so strong that swords and axes were no longer able to pierce and ricocheted upon impact. The war hammer could inflict significant damage on the enemy through their heavy impact without the need to pierce the armor.

1 Maccabees, also known as the First Book of Maccabees, First Maccabees, and abbreviated as 1 Macc., is a deuterocanonical book which details the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire as well as the founding and earliest history of the independent Hasmonean kingdom. It describes the promulgation of decrees forbidding traditional Jewish practices by King Antiochus IV Epiphanes and the formation of a rebellion against him by Mattathias of the Hasmonean family and his five sons. Mattathias's son Judas Maccabeus (Judah Maccabee) takes over the revolt and the rebels as a group are called the Maccabees; the book chronicles in detail the successes and setbacks of the rebellion. While Judas is eventually killed in battle, the Maccabees eventually achieve autonomy and then independence for Judea under the leadership of the Hasmonean family. Judas's brother Simon Thassi is declared High Priest by will of the Jewish people. The time period described is from around 170 BC to 134 BC.

The author is anonymous, but he probably wrote in the newly independent Hasmonean kingdom after the success of the Maccabean Revolt in the late 2nd century BC. 1 Maccabees was probably written in Hebrew originally. However, this original Hebrew has been lost, and the work only survives in translation in Koine Greek contained in the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint was preserved by early Christians as the basis for the Christian Old Testament. It became part of the deuterocanon in early Christianity. The book is held as canonical scripture today in the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches (except for the Orthodox Tewahedo). The book is not part of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and is not considered canonical by Protestant denominations nor in any of the major branches of Judaism. Some Protestants include the book as biblical apocrypha, material useful for background and edification but that is not canonical. Rabbinic Judaism generally disapproved of the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty, but the book is openly pro-Hasmonean, one of several factors for a lack of enthusiasm for the book within later Judaism.